Harry Potter's Robbie Coltrane has revealed that Daniel Radcliffe once planned to become a stand-up comedian.

Speaking to Snitch Seeker, cast members including Coltrane, Helen McCrory and Warwick Davis offered much praise for the actor who took on the role of the boy wizard when he was 11.

"Well, my favorite thing is his terrible jokes," Coltrane said. "He went through a period, do you remember about three years ago, when he decided he was going to become a stand-up comedian? He'd tell me jokes that my father told me about 50 years ago. And I'd go, 'Timing, Dan. Better timing in that'.

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"But they were terribly funny because he was so earnest. He's always been terribly earnest and determined to get it right. He'd say, 'You'll love this one. You'll love this one'. And I'd go, 'OK, yeah'.

McCrory, Narcissa Malfoy in the series, continued: "He's also got a great knowledge of music. Two Christmases ago I really decided I've got to stop listening to Stones and Dylan and try and lurch myself loose into the 20th, if not 21st, century. He was fantastic and wrote lists and lists of brilliant albums, all of which my husband owns now, which was bought for Christmas presents. He's a real music-head. He's passionate."

Producer David Barron went on to praise the 21-year-old for taking an interest in "everything and anybody", saying: "He's really brilliant. He's a real leader on the set because he's really motivated to make anybody who's new, either in crew or cast terms, just made to feel comfortable and settle in as if they're part of the family that had developed over the years. He's a really, really impressive young man, but he's also very funny - loves to joke around and loves a laugh."

Describing Radcliffe's energy as "boundless" and "infectious", Davis said: "He's just a brilliant lad to work with. He's done so well. And just to have gotten through all these films and been so consistent, it's quite an achievement, really."

Of the actor and his two co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, Coltrane added: "There was never anything child actorish about any of those three. There is a sort of child actor to be avoided."